21-Year-Old Photojournalist Trapped Under Rubble After Strike Killed 42-Year-Old Colleague

Zeinab Faraj survived a series of drone and missile strikes in southern Lebanon that killed her colleague, Amal Khalil, and left two other men dead.

The attack occurred on 22 April, one day after a ceasefire agreement halted a month of intense Israeli airstrikes. Faraj, a 21-year-old photojournalist, and Khalil, a 42-year-old newspaper reporter, were traveling together to document the destruction in the south. They had met earlier at Tebnine governmental hospital, a gathering point considered relatively safe, and were joining Ali Nabil Bazzi, 27, and Mohammed Hourani, 37, in a car. Bazzi, a municipal official from Bint Jbeil, was returning to sign a marriage contract that evening.

Faraj described the sequence of events as they approached the village of al-Tiri. She did not hear the initial missile impact but heard Khalil scream before seeing the car ahead catch fire. The two women exited the vehicle, and Faraj attempted to pull Bazzi free while Khalil insisted the men were gone. Drones then descended, flying at low altitudes. One drone flew so close to Faraj that she covered her face, only for it to rise again when she did so. Emergency services promised help was on the way, which Faraj said provided a temporary sense of calm. A paramedic instructed them to drive away because ambulances were blocked, but their car was struck by a missile as they tried to enter it.

Both women were thrown backward, with Khalil shielding Faraj with her arms. Khalil suggested the drone might mistake them for dead. They took shelter in a nearby house where Khalil, bleeding from her face, hand, and leg, was unable to move. Faraj sent a final message to her sister: "There's no hope left. Forgive me." As she watched the road, a drone dropped sharply, and a missile fell with a sound Faraj had never heard before. She woke trapped under rubble, barely able to breathe. Two paramedics eventually cleared the debris and pulled her out while she screamed in pain. Faraj reported that a stun grenade was dropped by a drone during the rescue.

The Israeli military stated it had identified saboteurs violating the ceasefire. Human rights groups countered that the attack constituted a war crime, noting the military received repeated requests to allow a rescue while the women were sheltering. A week prior to the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson had shared a video of Khalil and labeled her outlet "terrorist media." Khalil had also received death threats from numbers linked to Israeli forces. Khalil is believed to have died approximately one hour before paramedics were cleared to return to the area.

Faraj is now preparing to return to university while finishing a degree in radio and TV. She still has difficulty walking properly and has a visibly injured hand. A facial injury has affected the movement of one of her eyebrows. She wakes at night screaming and remains on edge when she hears drones or warplanes. Faraj said she is haunted by the sight of Hourani on the ground, his eyes open and looking at her.